I looked at my time, it was 1:30:55, and the split was 45:39 for the first half, and 45:16 for the second half. So this told me I got it right. That was about the extent of my research into the day, it just felt good.
So I wrote on Strava the following in response to one question:
I’m really happy. I ran the perfect race for me. Was constantly overtaken going downhill to half way, but overtook everyone who overtook me the going up the hills. I’ve run this 4 times now, and I bide my time to half way, then overtake going back uphill, and once you overtake them going up, they don’t try you again. And then I open the taps on the way down the last 4K to the finish. My last km was slower than last year (I’ve lost some top end speed) but I was 2 min faster over the course.
Then the next day, as they say in the cold-light-of-the-day, I looked into strava…
The essence is:
1) I maxed out my heart rate for the entire race, I didn’t know I could push it so close to the redline. While running, it didn’t feel so close. But the heart rate trace suggests otherwise
So I guess this means I’ve reached my current maximum.
2) The cadence dropped as I got faster. (from 136spm to 118spm) So obviously my stride lengthens.
I suspect it probably lengthens a little too much, and that I need to look at shortening it. Maybe there might be a bit more speed in me yet?
3) I pushed the hills comfortably hard and I did not back off, once I commited, that was it.
And… I managed to keep the pace up. Towards the end of the hills, I had to back off going down one to recover for a bit, and you see my pace drop for a bit going down, but then I absolutely charged the last hill; swings and roundabouts as they say.
A great day.
Splits below:
|
KM |
Pace |
GAP |
Elev |
HR |
Cadence |
|
1 |
4:17 /km |
4:02 /km |
14 m |
176 bpm |
172 spm |
|
2 |
4:23 /km |
4:09 /km |
10 m |
165 bpm |
136 spm |
|
3 |
4:47 /km |
4:05 /km |
38 m |
173 bpm |
130 spm |
|
4 |
4:26 /km |
4:13 /km |
5 m |
169 bpm |
146 spm |
|
5 |
4:30 /km |
4:19 /km |
7 m |
169 bpm |
154 spm |
|
6 |
4:14 /km |
4:32 /km |
-23 m |
166 bpm |
148 spm |
|
7 |
4:00 /km |
4:10 /km |
-17 m |
162 bpm |
124 spm |
|
8 |
4:23 /km |
4:08 /km |
12 m |
168 bpm |
144 spm |
|
9 |
4:09 /km |
4:24 /km |
-17 m |
165 bpm |
120 spm |
|
10 |
4:00 /km |
4:39 /km |
-40 m |
157 bpm |
120 spm |
|
11 |
4:21 /km |
3:59 /km |
20 m |
167 bpm |
136 spm |
|
12 |
4:39 /km |
3:57 /km |
39 m |
173 bpm |
130 spm |
|
13 |
4:17 /km |
4:18 /km |
-4 m |
168 bpm |
118 spm |
|
14 |
4:06 /km |
4:24 /km |
-21 m |
164 bpm |
120 spm |
|
15 |
4:34 /km |
3:51 /km |
39 m |
174 bpm |
138 spm |
|
16 |
4:32 /km |
4:08 /km |
19 m |
173 bpm |
152 spm |
|
17 |
4:21 /km |
4:28 /km |
-10 m |
171 bpm |
124 spm |
|
18 |
4:15 /km |
4:19 /km |
-5 m |
172 bpm |
128 spm |
|
19 |
4:12 /km |
4:05 /km |
-0 m |
172 bpm |
124 spm |
|
20 |
3:57 /km |
4:14 /km |
-20 m |
175 bpm |
118 spm |
|
21 |
3:36 /km |
4:15 /km |
-43 m |
176 bpm |
118 spm |
|
0.2 |
3:40 /km |
3:40 /km |
-0 m |
183 bpm |
120 spm |
GAP = Grade Adjusted Pace (ie if flat, what it is the equivalent of)